Charles Redmond
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                               
October 26, 1993
(Phone:  202/358-1757)

Susan Russell-Robinson
U.S. Geological Survey Headquarters, Reston, Va.
(Phone:  703/648-4460)

Anne Watzman
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
(Phone:  412/268-3830)


RELEASE:  93-195

DANTE ROBOT TO EXPLORE ACTIVE ALASKA VOLCANO IN SPRING


     NASA, the Alaskan Volcano Observatory (AVO) and Carnegie 
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, have agreed to a second robotic 
volcano exploration involving Dante, an eight-legged robot that 
attempted to explore Mt. Erebus in Antarctica earlier this year.

     NASA will fund modifications by researchers at Carnegie 
Mellon's Robotics Institute that will enable Dante to descend 
into Mt. Spurr, an active volcano about 90 miles west of 
Anchorage.  NASA will test several telerobotic technologies 
developed as part of the agency's ongoing robotic research 
program.

     Through an agreement, AVO, NASA and Carnegie Mellon will 
mount a joint investigation of the volcano using geophysical and 
geochemical sensors located on the Dante robot.

     The objectives of the Alaska mission are to have Dante 
descend into the crater of Mt. Spurr for geophysical and 
geological sampling and to test and prove the modifications to 
the robot for its possible use in a second attempt to explore 
Mt. Erebus.


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     Both NASA and AVO are interested in proving the concept of 
remote, robotic, volcano explorations since many of the 
volcanoes of interest are extremely hazardous to human 
exploration.  Eight volcanologists have died in recent accidents 
while attempting to descend into volcanoes located as far apart 
as Japan and Ecuador.

     The crater inside Mt. Spurr is considered too dangerous for 
human exploration but is of interest to the AVO science team and 
to the Volcano Hazards Program of the USGS.

     Mt. Spurr was a dormant volcano for 39 years until 1992.  
During 1992, Mt. Spurr erupted three times from a crater off the 
south flank of the mountain's main cone.  The crater is located 
at 7,575 feet elevation and includes a sheer drop of nearly 
1,000 feet from one wall.  The other side of the crater consists 
of a rock-strewn slope descending down at angles from 20 to 45 
degrees.

     This exploration will test the Dante robot's ability to 
traverse escarpments and deploy scientific equipment and gather 
gaseous samples.  The robotic technologies being tested also 
will provide validation to NASA robotic mission planners of 
systems which could be used in remote planetary exploration.

     Last January, a similar team involving NASA, Carnegie 
Mellon and the National Science Foundation, attempted to explore 
Mt. Erebus, an active volcano located near McMurdo Station in 
the Antarctic.  That attempt ended when a fiber optic cable 
became kinked and communication between the robot and the base 
camp control station was severed shortly after the robot was 
deployed to descend into the volcano's crater.

     AVO is jointly operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, the 
University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute and the Alaska 
State Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

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